Knowledge Economy

According to the textbook, the term "Knowledge economy" refers to the use of knowledge itself to provide benefit to the economy. This mostly includes things that have required an advance in technology and knowledge to achieve. Hence the term "Knowledge Economy." The conflict that arises here is that with knowledge and technology accelerating at such an alarming pace, millions of jobs are at stake, threatened to be replaced by machines or computers.

The knowledge economy term originated way back in the 1990's in New Zealand. This was right when high technology businesses that used new computer software, telecommunications, and virtual services were on the rise. The history of it really is quite elementary. We required more technology, and with technology comes knowledge. It seems only logical to name it a knowledge economy, as that really is what we thrive on.

The pros to this are quite obvious. Things get done more efficiently and with far less effort. Everything is constantly being improved, and at an exponentially faster rate. We're living in the future, and it's quite obvious to see. We have machines that make things far easier for people, and they're slowly getting cheaper and cheaper, and more and more advanced.

The cons are also very apparent, as well. The most obvious of which is that with all the new technology doing all new things, people are losing their jobs at an alarming rate. Everyone is being replaced by things that are far more efficient than them. If you look on TV, watch the show "How It's Made." You'll notice that many of the jobs are done by workers, but even more are done by machines. When I see certain jobs done by workers, I think to myself that machines could do it a lot better - and I bet they could, it's just that people want their jobs.

But, overall, I think it's a good thing. I think that our overall quality of life has been improved by the amount of knowledge that has become necessary in today's society. Also, we, the children, your future, are slowly getting more and more difficult schoolwork, mostly because they need us to maintain and improve our technology. Knowledge is power, and knowing is half the battle.

World Bank

The purpose of the World Bank and the International Monetary fund is to provide money and financial assistance to less fortunate or less developed countries of the world. The point of this is to reduce homelessness, improve living standards, and lower the unemployment rate. The World Bank offers low-to-no-interest loans and grants to these people. Normally, these funds are for improving an underdeveloped country's education system or health system, but sometimes goes into things like infrastructure and simply the well-being of the country's inhabitants.

Now, the question that likely needs an answer, and not just straight facts is this: Have they helped to improve living conditions of regular people or are they just a more expensive government?

I believe that they have most definitely helped with poor countries around the world. From all the facts I've gathered from the internet and my textbook, I would for sure have to put the World Bank in my good books. Sure, they may cause more taxes for some people, but really, with the billions of people in the world, what's a few dollars to just one of us, right? Not to mention the only countries who get over-taxed are the ones who can actually afford it most of the time, so it's not like they're really harming a lot of people to help just a few.

Also, another argument for them, according to their facts that are written in the book, they dropped the homelessness count by nearly twenty percent in less developed countries, life expectancy in these countries were increased by about twenty years per person. Think about that - twenty years; that's longer than any of your current students have lived. That is most definitely a very good thing.

To put it simply, I don't see how anyone could see the World Bank as a bad thing. I'm all for having more money in my pocket, but if just a few of my dollars are going to be spread around the rest of the world, I'm totally fine.

Zapatistas

The Zapatistas in the Chiapas of Mexico are a very poor people. So poor, in fact, that they have to survive on grilled cheese sandwiches. But they have no cheese, so they substitute the cheese with dirt. They have no bread either, so they use the leaves off of the trees as the "bread" of their "grilled cheese sandwiches."

Anyways, joking aside, they are really poor. Like, really poor. However, with globalization and availability to new technology and information, they did something not many have ever done before.

Most poor, weak communities would shut themselves away from the rest of the world - in fear of being taken over, or harmed, or something like that. The Zapatistas, (the revolutionary people they are) did the exact opposite. They opened their gates to the world and got messages sent around the internet, letting the general public know of their dire situation. Surprisinly, this is going along quite swimmingly. I'm really quite surprised that not many others (or NO others) have done this before. People really aren't as heartless as many others make them to be. Society sees a person in trouble, and often times, people do what they can to prove to the world that they care. Obviously, some exceptions to this exist, as there are always mean people around. That's just the way it is. But seriously, this is a perfect example of humanity's selflessness. You can look over there, at Africa - one of the poorest places in the world, and every day see thousands of VOLUNTEERS helping the people, with no personal benefit from it. Often times, people look around and see only violence, hostility, and unhappiness. All one needs to do is open his eyes and see all the happy people - I mean, we contribute to society's well-being too, right? There are people laughing, sharing, caring, living, and the Zapatistas are the ONLY people to really take advantage of that.